A few weeks ago I got a call inviting me to a forum discussion at a hotel. An email came requesting me to be a part of a group that would discuss "something" about Iloilo. The lifestyle of the Ilonggos including shopping, entertainment, dining, leisure and almost about anything. It was basically getting the pulse of the Ilonggos on how vibrant the Ilonggo business scene is now.
And today at the Emerald FunctionRoom of the Smallville 21 Hotel I found out it was an intimate group - with just around a dozen participants representing the business, public service, media and other sectors of Iloilo City. I was then greatly honored to be part of this since I thought there would be around 50 participants. We sure did discuss all about Iloilo as mentioned above and it was a very fruitful discussion with them getting the pulse of the locals views on everything in our city. But as requested, I am not going to divulge any information about it - what more we talked about and who they were (though I am very much itching to do so -lol)
So instead I'll discuss about what was serve to us by the the newest hotel in Iloilo CIty - Smallville 21 Hotel. It was around six months ago when it opened and one can see upon entry that the hotel is brand new. The second floor got some functions with varying occupancy capability. And for a new player in the industry compared to established hotels, they had quite a satisfying food line up.
A salad started my food journey and with lettuce, bacon and croutons plus a zesty dressing whet up my appetite to have more.
For a hotel serving pancit canton (seafood), it was fairly good compared to others. The noodles were flavourful enough that even without eveything else, I could finish it all.
The fried chicken was good despite not eating it with rice, I enjoyed it as much. Even though it stayed on my plate for a long while the crunch was still ther when I had it then.
Beef with broccolicame next though it looked unappetizing at first but it was tender to the bite and the sauce was just mild. It could have used more broccoli in my opinion.
And finally, baby back ribs. Tender and almost falling of the bones plus the peanut sauce was savoury enough to give a lasting bite. But I kept it comparing to my favorite one which is just across the hotel at The Avenue - Bourbon Street.
And it ended around 1pm (we met around 10am) and we all felt it was just a teaser for us to share how everything is in Iloilo now and how they can influence the lifestyle of the Ilonggos since our host is really a prime mover in developments around the country.Their entry to Iloilo by then would really make Iloilo THE NEXT BIG THING!